Mirage

Mirage by Somaiya Daud:

“In a world dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated home.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty―and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection…because one wrong move could lead to her death.” ~ Goodreads description

I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway. When the book was given away, the giveaway description it was given made it sound all fantasy and no sci-fi. Fast forward a few weeks, Mirage arrived, and I start reading……. 2 chapters in I was apprehensive about continuing because that’s when I realized that this book is a sci-fi fantasy….. Sci fi is my least favorite genre to read. I AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS! I actually put the book down for a week. That beautiful purple cover kept staring at me from the shelf. Luring me back to its pages…

I ended up trying the book again and to my extreme delight I LOVED THIS BOOK! There were some parts of it that had the slow burn but it wasnt boring and overall the whole plot was a really great set up for the next book in the series. The end was great! I absolutely love the Moroccan imagery/ details. I loved how the descriptions of places and planets had just enough detail to get a good idea of the place. (We all know some fantasies, sci-fi or not, can go on FOREVER with extreme detail. This book wasnt like that.)

I actually can not wait for this book to release to I can count down the days the sequel. This was a great debut novel from this author and I look forward to more of her work. The only reason it’s not getting 5 stars from me is because I can live without the droids but that’s just my own personal preference 😉 I have given it a solid 4 though.

As always you can pick up a copy from the amazon link below. This book is currently on pre-order. Set to release August 28th, 2018.